Filed Under:Swanlights

Antony and the Johnsons’ new record is out today! Cut The World features live performances of songs from previously released albums: Swanlights, The Crying Light, I Am a Bird Now, and S/T. The songs were recorded live with The Danish National Chamber Orchestra in Copenhagen and feature arrangements by Nico Muhly, Rob Moose, Maxim Moston and Antony. The title track is a previously unreleased song and is from The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic. Head to SC Distribution to check out the full catalog bundles. You can also order from iTunes.

As January 26 draws closer, Antony gears up for the debut of Swanlights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Months of preparation have led up to a single night, a single performance. The visual concert webs in and out of Antony’s dream world to portray the inner thoughts only someone as gifted and forward-moving as Antony could create in a tangible space. A MoMA commissioned event, Antony enlisted the help of several outstanding composers and lighting and set artists to make the show grow from a concert to an experience.

In Black and Gold: Antony, V Magazine dives into detail about the upcoming show and what exactly it means to Antony to perform such a production in the grandeur setting that is Radio City. “The scale of the production is less of a concern for the seasoned artist, who grew up performing in small East Village venues, than it is something to marvel at. ‘It’s funny because a lot of the songs are the same ones I performed at the Pyramid Club when I was 20 years old,’ he says. ‘To perform them with a symphony orchestra, in New York which is my home, is really rewarding.” Never forgetting his roots or the number of artists still struggling to survive, Antony comments on the fortune he as been granted as “a reflection of a great circle of cultural artists and performers, transgender people, and punk women.”

To read the full article, visit V MAGAZINE and to witness Swanlights in person, purchase your tickets HERE. It’s an event not to be missed.

Only Antony could pull off such a feat. On January 26th, Antony and The Johnsons will debut Swanlights, a MoMA commissioned performance piece and large-scale concert featuring a 60-piece orchestra at Radio City Music Hall. RCMH describes Swanlights as, “Envisioned as a meditation on light, nature, and femininity, Swanlights includes songs from all four of Antony and the Johnsons’ albums (self-titled, I am a Bird Now, The Crying Light, and Swanlights), set to symphonic arrangements by Nico Muhly, Rob Moose, and Maxim Moston. It is produced in collaboration with light artist Chris Levine, lighting designer Paul Normandale, and set designer Carl Robertshaw.”

Interview Magazine sat down with Antony to delve further into Swanlights’s creation and how exactly Antony came to be chosen for the event. Antony says, “It’s a wonderful feeling to bring it back to New York and to share it with my community and my city.” You can read the full interview HERE.

The Museum of Modern Art has commissioned artist/musician Antony to conceive, produce, and perform a large-scale concert and performance event, Swanlights, with Antony and the Johnsons, on Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 8:00 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall. You can read more about it at the New York Times and Pitchfork.

Envisioned as a meditation on light, nature, and femininity, Swanlights includes songs from all four of Antony and the Johnsons’ albums (self-titled, I am a Bird Now, The Crying Light, and Swanlights), set to symphonic arrangements by Nico Muhly, Rob Moose, and Maxim Moston. It is produced in collaboration with light artist Chris Levine, lighting designer Paul Normandale, and set designer Carl Robertshaw. Antony and the Johnsons: Swanlights is organized by Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator at Large of The Museum of Modern Art and Director of MoMA PS1, with the assistance of Eliza Ryan, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1.

This month also sees a work-in-progress screening of TURNING, a film by Charles Atlas and Antony on November 11th at Copenhagen’s Documentary Film Festival CPH:DOX. In 2006 Antony and the Johnsons and Charles Atlas toured Europe with a concert and live video portrait of 13 women from New York City. The film TURNING explores the heart of that performance. Through its synthesis of Antony’s songs and unfurling video portraiture of the beauties who performed on stage, TURNING creates an intimate and cinematic experience exploring the themes of identity, transcendence and the revelation of essence.

Tickets to Antony and the Johnsons: Swanlights will go on-sale to the public on Saturday, November 12, at 10:00 a.m.

Today Antony and the Johnsons premiered a new video for “Swanlights,” directed by Antony’s sister Sara Hegarty. The video contains excerpts from the forthcoming film The Last Hymn featuring Sierra Paris. Antony has described the concept of swanlights as “the reflection of light on the surface of the water at night and the moment when a spirit jumps out of a body and turns into a violet ghost.”

In other Antony news, electronic music duo Matmos has joined the team for the forthcoming production of “The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic” which includes Antony, Marina Abramovic, Willem Dafoe, and Robert Wilson. The show features scenes from Abramovic’s life and career, from her Serbian childhood to her work as a performance artist. It also features original and traditional music, including songs written and performed by Antony.

Look for Antony and the Johnsons’ Swanlights EP on 10-inch vinyl for Record Store Day April 16. The EP includes a remix of the title track by Oneohtrix Point Never as well as two exclusive b-sides.